Shed light on cruelty in Cuba

Another Cuban, Wilmar Villar, just died in a hunger strike protesting the abuses of the Castro's regime. His wife was not permitted to see his body.

Yoani Sanchez, the internationally recognized Cuban blogger who is not allowed to travel abroad, reported his death on the Internet.

Cuban exiles had called on governments and human rights organizations for help. We do not know if Cuban Cardinal Jaime Ortega, who has access to Raul Castro, interceded on behalf of Villar, who is the father of two girls, or if the Cardinal, who participated on the arrangement to release Cuban political prisoners and banish most of them and their families abroad, alerted the Holy See about Villar's impending death.

Havana can no longer murder in secrecy. It fears the Internet and the Cubans who are willing to die for human rights. But the regime enjoys international impunity for its crimes.

The economic openings sponsored by the Obama administration have emboldened the regime, which is engaged in a widespread crackdown while Sen. Richard Durbin (D – Ill.) visited Havana, presumably to discuss further accommodations to the dictatorship.

A Cuban gay man was beaten to death by Cuban police earlier. A group of mothers, wives and daughters of political prisoners who defiantly attend mass dressed in white, were detained by police when they tried to attend a meeting.

The leader of the group, Laura Pollan, who had been beaten and harassed by the police, died under unclear circumstances in a Cuban hospital last year. All of this happens while the eyes of the world focus elsewhere.

May the assassins be brought to justice in a free Cuba. And may all the victims rest in peace.

Frank Calzon is the executive director of the Center for a Free Cuba in Washington, D.C.